Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Adam Falk has proposed altering course schedules so that classes are held either on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or on Tuesday and Thursday.
The change would bring Arts and Sciences as well as Engineering undergraduates' weekly format in line with other Hopkins divisions.
Numerous students, however, have expressed concern about the elimination of the free block of time currently available on Thursdays and Fridays.
According to Falk, the current system is detrimental to students' learning. Falk discussed the proposal with Student Council for the first time on Tuesday. "He wanted to present both sides and get student input," StuCo president Atin Agarwal said. "I don't know if I can say that Student Council has a collective opinion."
In 2002, President Brody and Provost Steven Knapp created the Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE) to determine ways to improve the undergraduate experience at Hopkins. One of CUE's main recommendations was to change to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday/Tuesday-Thursday schedule.
In its 2003 final report, CUE observed four benefits of the revised class schedule.
First, because other Hopkins divisions are already on a MWF/ThF schedule, a parallel undergraduate system would help the University create more interdivisional programs with other campuses like Peabody and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The report also concluded that a more spread-out schedule would improve students' preparation for and learning in their courses, allowing more time for students to grasp new material.
Classroom utilization is another concern under the current system. "We don't use our classrooms very effectively," Falk said. "With the Gilman renovation, we're going to be under a lot more pressure."
The CUE report concluded that the schedule change would improve the University's ability to distribute classes efficiently among the available facilities.
However, the proposed change has some significant drawbacks.
Students have emphasized the concentration of their classes on Monday through Wednesday allows them to relax, study or do internship work on Thursday and Friday. This type of schedule would not be possible under the proposed system.
"I really value the large block of free time that we get under the current system. It's useful for accomplishing unfinished work, studying for exams, and pursuing various other activities on campus. I think that the proposed schedule would really hamper student productivity," freshman Brian Ejsmont said.
"It's not like every semester of every year that you create a three or four-day weekend. Many upperclassmen use the opportunity to work on research, volunteering,or something else substantial," junior Samata Kamireddy said.
However, the CUE report concluded that undergraduates' common practice of taking Thursdays and Fridays off was highly detrimental to Hopkins' sense of community. It noted, "Normal social interactions become quite lopsided when students shift from high levels of campus engagement while taking back-to-back-to-back classes without a break to more solitary pursuits, frequently in the isolation of their off-campus apartments."
